Oklahoma governor signs Texas-style ban on most abortions

Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed a Texas-style abortion ban that prohibits abortions after about six weeks of being pregnant

By SEAN MURPHY Related Press

3 Might 2022, 23:03

• 4 min read

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a Texas-style abortion ban on Tuesday that prohibits abortions after about six weeks of being pregnant, part of a nationwide push in GOP-led states hopeful that the conservative U.S. Supreme Courtroom will uphold new restrictions.

“I need Oklahoma to be the most pro-life state in the country," Stitt tweeted after signing the invoice.

Stitt's signing of the bill comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion from the nation's high courtroom that it is considering weakening or overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion almost 50 years ago.

The bill Stitt signed takes effect immediately with his signature, and the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom on Tuesday denied an emergency request to quickly halt the invoice. Abortion providers say now that the brand new regulation is in effect, they will immediately stop offering providers for women after six weeks of being pregnant.

“Whereas the legislation is in effect, which it now could be because the governor signed it, abortion services after six weeks might be largely unavailable," mentioned Rabia Muqaddam, a employees attorney for the New York-based Middle for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Oklahoma abortion suppliers in the case. “It’s a short-term loss, but we’re hopeful that the Oklahoma Supreme Courtroom will still grant us relief."

The new regulation prohibits abortions once cardiac exercise can be detected in an embryo, which experts say is roughly six weeks right into a pregnancy, earlier than many women know they're pregnant. A similar bill accepted in Texas last 12 months led to a dramatic reduction within the variety of abortions carried out in that state, with many ladies going to Oklahoma and other surrounding states for the process.

Dr. Iman Alsaden, the medical director of Deliberate Parenthood Nice Plains, mentioned Texas' law that took effect in September has given their workers an idea of what a post-Roe country may seem like.

“Since that day, my colleagues and I've usually treated sufferers who are fleeing their communities to hunt care," Alsaden stated. “They’re taking time off of work, taking trip of college and taking time away from their family duties to get the care that until September 2021 they have been able to get safely and readily in their communities."

The invoice authorizes abortions if performed as the result of a medical emergency, but there are not any exceptions if the being pregnant is the result of rape or incest.

Just like the Texas legislation, the Oklahoma invoice would permit personal residents to sue abortion suppliers or anybody who helps a lady get hold of an abortion for as much as $10,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court allowed that mechanism to stay in place, different Republican-led states sought to repeat Texas’ ban. Idaho’s governor signed the first copycat measure in March, though it has been briefly blocked by the state’s Supreme Court docket.

Stitt earlier this yr signed a bill to make performing an abortion a felony crime in Oklahoma, but that measure is not set to take impact until this summer, and legal experts say it's more likely to be blocked as a result of the Roe v. Wade determination nonetheless stays the regulation of the land.

The variety of abortions carried out annually in Oklahoma, which has four abortion clinics, has declined steadily over the past 20 years, from more than 6,200 in 2002 to three,737 in 2020, the fewest in additional than 20 years, according to data from the Oklahoma State Department of Well being. In 2020, earlier than the Texas legislation was passed, about 9% of the abortions carried out in Oklahoma were ladies from Texas.

Before the Texas ban took effect on Sept. 1, about 40 women from Texas had abortions carried out in Oklahoma every month, the data shows. That quantity jumped to 222 Texas ladies in September and 243 in October.